By not allowing users to use the same password they've previously used, you are effectively forcing the user to change In today's era of multiple mobile devices, it is very likely that a user's password to a certain service is stored on multiple places.Could happen! It's not up to admins to impose their own mindset onto users! Who knows, in some kind of twisted logic, that actually makes sense! "Nah, nobody's dumb enough to put their own username as their Words like their first name it will make their account less secure, and they have made a conscious decision to USE that word. They want their password to be "password" or "abc123", SO BE IT! Let them! I've said this earlier - It is NOT the service provider's responsibility to insure users against their own stupidity! They know what the risks are, they know if they use easily guessable People go back to the password they're familiar with because it's what they WANT to use! It's what they remember!! A password is to identify a person! If that's how they want to be identified, what gives ANYONE else the right to tell them otherwise? If.Number of Previously Used Passwords prevention - Why are we stopping people from using their previously used passwords? Actually, why would people WANT to use their previous passwords in the first place?.but which is it? Oops I've only got 5 guesses, I've locked out my own account Name, except it isn't. now lets see, it is probably somewhere between Fluffy12 and Fluff圓7. A password is a secret that the user remembers, and it should not be an arbitrarily forced mutation of that secret. But once in a while, when we travel or get issued with a new computer, all hell breaks loose. We don't always have to manually login because we tick the "Remember It makes FAR more sense to allow the user to nominate their own password, and stick to it! Even if it is months, or even years old! Let's face it, we all have online services everywhere.Now when you have a number of services with such a theme of password, and given 3 attempts to "guess" what number you're up to, the legitimate user is essentially dictionary-attacking their own More often than not, users simply append a digit to the end of their usual password to suit such a policy. Periods, or simply have different expiry dates due to the fact they were signed up at different times.
They should not have to maintain a massive list of cryptic passwords just because different providers have different expiry A user is meant to remember, instinctively, what the password for a particular service is.